Emirates SIN-DXB-BCN in Y: Paella, Xuxo & FC Barcelona vs Sevilla@Camp Nou (Part I)

[yflyer]

Our gate was at one of the non A380 concourses. We deplaned and cleared security.



The security checkpoint for transit pax was fairly crowded, but the whole operation at DXB is geared for scale, so we got through fairly quickly. A security fast lane is available for First/Business class pax but not for frequent flyers in Y. The regular Y queues moved fairly quickly too.

A stupendous number of destinations that you can connect to from DXB. Whether you were going to Bali or Kabul, Lagos or Copenhagen, EK had a flight for you...



One of the side-effects of using a Windows-based system for your flight displays is that occasionally the above happens…



After security, we rode the underground people mover to the A380 concourse for our connecting flight.

[yflyer]

Emirates' inflight wifi is very good value. You get 10MB wifi access free, which is perfect if you mainly want to exchange text messages using apps on your phone like WhatsApp. 10MB goes a long way in that context.



And for $1, you get 500MB, which is sufficient for some limited web surfing and email. Internet access speed varies – often slow and sometimes it just cuts out completely for seconds or minutes at a time, but that is about what you would expect on long international sectors over water. But for this price, you can’t really complain.

A couple of hours before landing, lights were switched on and another round of hot towels were distributed…a touch of premium airline service that jarred with the cramped 10-abreast cabin…

Breakfast…



…sort of an Asian hybrid dish that reminded me a little of mee goreng…



The western breakfast main looked more conventional…



We commenced descent landed in Dubai in the early hours of the morning, before sunrise…

[yflyer]

Today’s menu…



Pax on this flight would get a snack after take-off, and a full breakfast prior to arrival…



A flight time today of just under 7 hours.



This evening’s late night snack…



…and then a drink. I ordered a G&T…the first of many on this trip.



The Spanish have had a long love affair with this drink they call “Gin Tonic” and I would see this almost everywhere in Barcelona…

Cabin ambience during the night flight…





In the bathroom, toiletries locked in place.

[yflyer]

Apart from the narrowness of the seats. Seat pitch was actually fine.



Powerful individual air vents were also installed, and this helped me remain cool during the flight.



Some amount of obstruction from the IFE box under some of the seats, but it is not that large a box.



Full AVOD, with Emirates award-winning ICE system. A great program selection and UI, however showing its age on this aircraft, with 4:3 format screens.







A/C power outlet (US/Europe only, no UK socket) was provided, but no USB port.

Boxy looking headphones. These sounded ok but not as good as a typical pair of “bring your own” headphones or earbuds.





The headphone pack also comes with convenient stickers to indicate “Do Not Disturb”, “Wake me up for meals” or “Wake me for Duty Free”. If you want to sleep, it is very important to paste the “Do Not Disturb” sticker on your seat, because on recent EK flights, I have seen cabin crew try very hard, and persistently, to wake up pax who were sound asleep in order to offer them meals.

Small pillows (Non-fabric/cotton)…



Large blanket…



Proper cloth hot towels given out before take-off.

[yflyer]

This was a moderately full flight, with many transit pax from the previous MEL-SIN sector.

The J cabin was configured in 2-3-2, with sloping lie-flat seats.







A fairly dated J product, but one which probably looked very comfortable to any pax walking through the cabin on the way to the economy cabin, myself included.

The Y cabin was configured 3-4-3. 10 narrow seats per row! I may sometimes have to fly like this, but I will never get used to this.







Fortunately, although the plane was fairly full, the middle seats in our block remained empty, and we had 4 seats between the two of us. Relief…later on in the flight, I encouraged Mrs yflyer to raise the armrests and lie down on 3 seats, an offer which she gratefully accepted. At least one of us would sleep flat on this flight...

[yflyer]

Our trip began on, of all things, a 10-abreast Emirates 777 on the SIN-DXB leg – the only non-A380 sector that we flew on EK.

Normally this would be a highly inauspicious start…but "...don't worry..." I told Mrs yflyer, I had a plan...

On the day we were travelling, EK405, which originated in MEL, was only moderately loaded for the SIN-DXB continuation. The seats I selected towards the rear of the aircraft were aisle seats on both ends of the centre bank of 4 seats, with the middle 2 seats empty. (We were ticketed on different PNRs, although I believe this is also possible on a single PNR). If all went well, and the middle seats remained empty, we would have 4 for ourselves. If not, I would simply swop my aisle seat for a middle seat next to Mrs yflyer.

EK405 is a 1.20am departure. By the time we arrived at Changi T1 in the late evening, the check-in area was fairly quiet.



Our first stop was the Emirates Lounge (Covered here) where we sampled the food and champagne in the lounge before heading to our gate to board…

[yflyer]

By now, regulars on SQTalk will know the essential elements of a yflyer TR: Photos of peanuts, pictures of economy class seats from at least three different angles, economy class meals recounted blow-by-blow with almost the same reverence accorded to degustation menus in Michelin-starred restaurants...a run around the city regardless of weather conditions...and the endless b*tching about 10-abreast 777’s and 9-abreast 787’s.

But something unexpected happens when Mrs yflyer joins him on a trip. Unexciting salaryman suddenly transforms into amateur foodie and camera-toting tourist…yflyer suddenly remembers how to enjoy himself, and actually steps out of the hotel to look around and *gasp* do some sightseeing…

I had a work trip planned for Barcelona in late February, and this time schedules worked out for Mrs yflyer to tag along. A few days of vacation time tacked on to either end of the business itinerary, and this became something resembling a holiday.

We flew Emirates to Barcelona via Dubai in Economy. Mrs yflyer returned to Singapore on the same routing 9 days later, however I continued my trip for a few days longer, on Air Berlin (A Oneworld member) to Munich, via Dusseldorf, and returned to Singapore from Munich, again via Dubai on Emirates.

In Barcelona, I brought Mrs yflyer to a few favourite eating outlets that I had raved about on previous trips there, but ended up eating at quite a few new places as well, with many new places either sniffed out by Mrs yflyer or recommended by friends and relatives.

The highlight of this trip was watching FC Barcelona, one of the world's best known football teams, play at Camp Nou, the stadium which is their home ground, as they played Sevilla FC in an exciting La Liga football match on the evening of 28 February.

Who won? Who among the triumvirate of Messi, Suarez and Neymar would score for Barca during the match? More on the outcome of that football match later in the TR…

TR INDEX

Flight: SIN-DXB-BCN on Emirates
Emirates Business Class Lounge - DXB A380 Concourse
Dining: El Xampanyet
Boqueria Market & Pinotxo Bar
Run: Beachfront Run to the W hotel
Dining: Passadis Del Pep
Hotel: Silken Barcelona Diagonal
Gaudi’s Park Guell
Las Ramblas and a Run to the Sagrada Familia and Port Olimpic
Dining: La Fonda Del Port Olimpic
Dining: Llamber
Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Dining: Suculent
Placa Catalunya
Dining: Paella at Xiringuito Escriba
Gothic Quarter, Churros & Hot Chocolate
New subway line to the airport
Dining: Bar Celta Pulperia
Football: FC Barcelona vs Sevilla FC @ Camp Nou

Part II of the TR